This paper reviews the contributions of the United States to the promotion of children's rights. In the 19th century, the United States created public schools to supplement family education. Societies to protect children were also established. Early in the 20th century, the government began a series of White House Conferences on Children and Youth, which resulted in the creation of the Children's Bureau in 1912 and the promulgation of the Children's Charter in 1930. In the 1930s, the Emergency Nursery Schools program and the Social Security Act improved the lives of children. After World War II, a series of Supreme Court decisions reversed the practice of "separate but equal" racial facilities and implemented school racial integration and busing. Since World War II, legislation concerning children has included: (1) the National School Lunch Act; (2) the Maternal, Child Health and Mental Retardation Act; (3) Project Head Start; (4) laws to strengthen education for educationally deprived children in low-income areas; (5) the Bilingual Education Act; (6) the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act; and (7) the Education for the Handicapped Act. Nine references are cited. An appendix includes a copy of the Children's Charter. (BC)